NASA Will Legitimately Pay You Six Figures to Protect Earth from Aliens

NASA is currently in the process of hiring a real-life member of the Men in Black. Yes, we’re serious.

The job of a “Planetary Protection Officer”? To protect the planet and its inhabitants from alien contamination and, in turn, to protect other worlds from contamination by us in our exploration efforts.

According to Business Insider, Catharine Conley, NASA’s only PPO since 2014, is one of only two full-time roles in the world, the other one being at the European Space Agency. With Conley leaving the job, it’s now open up to one lucky, albeit highly skilled person.

In a new job posting, USA Jobs has listed the requirements of a planetary protection officer at NASA’s headquarters, and unfortunately, being a sci-fi fan isn’t enough. You’ll need to meet some astronomically high qualifications, including incredible knowledge of planetary protection (makes sense); 1+ year experience holding a top-level civilian government role; an advanced degree in physical science, math, or engineering; and more. Again, makes sense for a job that reportedly pays up to just shy of $200k per year.

So, who knows what the everyday life of the next Planetary Protection Officer will be, but we’d imagine it’ll go a little something like this: